How to Use Surveys With Business Leads

Often surveys are used for research. Survey technology was designed initially to allow companies and universities the ability to easily collect data that they can use to run analysis and obtain useful results.

But use of survey technology doesn't need to be limited to traditional uses. Survey technology is simply a form of data collection, and while it is arguably one of the best ways to understand your market, it is also has other uses as well. One potential use for surveys is to use it as a way to qualify leads.

This can be especially useful if you run a B2B service or are the type of business that often has customers looking for you, rather than you always looking for customers.

If you have a website, you can consider integrating a survey into how you people contact you for information. You can request that they fill out a brief form that will help you get back to them better, or provide them with a survey that you can use to decide what type of customer they need to be, and direct them to the correct sales staff. Essentially, you are using these surveys to move them down the pipeline, either because you have a dedicated sales professional that is ready to try to sell them on a product or service, or because you now have information that you can use to address their needs correctly.

You can even discount leads based on what they say in the survey. For example, if you run a SEO marketing company and you have a client that fills out a survey to reach your company, and they want a lot of work for a minimal budget, you can create a survey whose results tell them that unfortunately their budget is not enough for you to work with them. Or you can have a final page set up that tells them what you can do with their current budget.

Data collection is simply a tool like any other, and as such there are many different uses that allow you to improve your business. While research is certainly an important tool, using surveys to find or qualify leads is also something that you may want to consider if it is realistic for your business. The technology has already been created, and there are plenty of ways that your company can benefit from its capabilities.